Ghoulish Games
by Mandy of the Amoeba
Summary: A wave of "unusual" crimes is sweeping St. Canard, and Darkwing Duck is determined to prove that the culprit is NOT his girlfriend. Chapter 7 is up!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This sort of picks up, timeframe wise, just after Bubbles, and it might be handy to read that because of what I'm planning for later chapters. Anyway...I'm kind of stuck at the moment, but this WILL be continued. I wanted to go ahead and post the first chapter up just to get some feedback. Enjoy!  
  
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Darkwing sighed as the blue armchair stopped spinning in his living room, choosing to remain slumped in it instead of getting up right away. Launchpad got out of the other chair, heading, as usual, straight for the kitchen.  
  
"Gee, DW, that's the third toy store robbery this week. D'you think Quackerjack is behind it?" the large duck questioned a few minutes later, returning with a bag of potato chips and offering some to the masked mallard. Darkwing shrugged, finally getting up out of the chair.  
  
"I don't think so, LP....the robberies don't show any signs of Quackerjack's handiwork," he replied, waving a hand at the chips to decline them. "In fact, if I didn't know any better..." He trailed off and shook his head, unable to voice his doubts aloud.  
  
"Huh?" Launchpad asked, flopping down on the couch and turning on the television.  
  
"Er, nothing. I think I'll turn in. S'been a long night," came the reply, and Darkwing yawned and stretched as if to prove his point.  
  
"G'night, DW," Launchpad called cheerfully, his eyes glued to the TV screen while he changed the channel to a cartoon that, for some reason, was on at that obscene hour of the morning. Unable to keep from smiling a little at his sidekick's simplicity, Darkwing shook his head and started up the stairs.  
  
'Something's too familiar about these robberies,' he thought, changing out of his costume and into his pajamas. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but the black cats and bats he'd seen leaving the looted toy stores were all too reminiscent of his girlfriend's old techniques for crime. 'But that's impossible! She gave up her villainous ways; and for ME, thank you very much,' he thought to his reflection in the mirror, and his chest puffed up a little with pride.  
  
'But who else leaves behind cobwebs at the crime scene?' a nagging voice echoed in his brain, and he sighed, reaching for a framed picture of him and Morgana at a barbeque the Muddlefoots had invited them to. Binkie had taken the picture, and neither one of the ducks in it was looking at the camera; Drake was making a valiant attempt at appearing grateful while Morgana coaxed him into another helping of her ghoul goulash. Even though the smile on his face was hiding a grimace at the food, both of them had eyes full of love, and it was obvious that the two of them couldn't be happier.  
  
He sat the picture back down in its place beside another photograph of he and Gosalyn with a tender smile; sometimes, just the thought of how lucky he was to have the love of his two girls threatened to overwhelm him. He didn't know what he had done to deserve either of them, but if some nameless good deed had brought them into his life, he was certainly glad he had done it.  
  
"I don't care what the evidence looks like," he said aloud to the empty room. "Morgana's not a crook anymore." Satisfied, he flipped off the light and found his way to bed in the darkness.  
  
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"Dark? Darling? Honeywumpus?" Morgana called gently, trying to get the attention of her boyfriend, who was currently staring down at his plate while he pushed his food around with his fork. She got no response; he had been in a gloomy, half-attentive mood all night. Sighing, she nearly shouted, "Darkwing Duck!"  
  
"Gah! What? Where?" he cried in response, jumping out of his seat and drawing his gas gun, whipping around. Morgana sighed again.  
  
"Just trying to bring you back to this world..." She trailed off, and decided to switch tactics a bit. "What's on your mind, my little honeywumpus?" she crooned, reaching over to cup his chin in her hand after he sat back down. "You've barely even touched your cobra cutlets!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Morg," he apologized, pulling his head away just enough to leave her hand empty, then promptly reaching up to clasp it in his own. "I just can't seem to get my mind off these robberies we've been dealing with lately...three weeks, eleven different break-ins, and we STILL don't have a real lead on the criminal!" he exclaimed. That was only partly true; they DID have a few leads....but all of them seemed to point directly to Morgana, so he was continuing to dismiss them.  
  
"It's not one of your usual suspects, then?" she asked, green eyes wide and questioning.  
  
"No....er, it's...certainly an unusual criminal, at least..." he began, somewhat nervously. He knew he had to at least ask her if she knew anything about the crimes...but no, if she did, she would have told him! Right? But then, if he didn't ask...  
  
"Dark?" her voice interrupted his thoughts again. "Dark, why do I have a feeling that there's something you're not telling me?"  
  
He sighed; may as well get things out in the open. "Well...sweetiekins..." He stopped, trying to think of the best way to say this. He had learned from past mistakes that saying the wrong thing with Morgana could end up giving him fried tailfeathers. Then, suddenly, he had an idea of what just might work. "Actually, I think I may need your help figuring out who the criminal is..."  
  
She brightened, and he inwardly berated himself for even thinking she could be involved in the robberies; she was obviously eager to help him. "Oh, Dark! Really?" she fairly squealed, and he marveled for the umpteenth time over how quickly her voice could go from seductive to girlish.  
  
Smiling at her enthusiasm, he squeezed her hand gently. "Next time there's a robbery, I'd like it if you could come with me, so you can see the clues for yourself. Think you could handle that?"  
  
"Of course, my little honeywumpus," she murmured, right back to the seductive voice again as she leaned in to kiss him. He immediately melted into a (figurative) puddle of goo, and all thoughts of the robberies were forgotten for the remainder of their date.  
  
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A/N: Well, let me know what you think so far! And I know it may seem like Darkwing asks for help too readily, considering the size of his ego and all...but, look at it this way. It's either let his girlfriend help him in order to appease her, or risk getting turned into something unpleasant. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Remember how I said that you might want to read my other fic, 'Bubbles', before reading this just to get an idea of the timeline? Weeeell....yeah, this story kind of changed its own mind about where it was going, so now you really probably want to read the other one. Thanks so much for the great reviews I've gotten so far! Enjoy!  
  
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It had been nearly a full week since the last spooky robbery had taken place; in fact, it had been a week since ANY crime had taken place in St. Canard. On the one hand, Drake was glad that the robberies had stopped; if he didn't receive any new clues, that meant there was no new evidence that could link the crimes with Morgana. On the other hand, his sense of justice compelled him to want to solve the mystery. Not to mention that he was bored stiff without any crime to fight.  
  
"I don't get it, Launchpad!" he exclaimed, turning his attention away from the news, which was covering a story about the Cute Little Lost Bunnies. "One minute, we've got our hands full of crimes to solve, and then the next thing you know, nothing's happening at all!"  
  
Launchpad just shrugged, then pointed to the TV. "Hey, that looks kinda exciting," he suggested. Drake opened his mouth to say that he'd seen almost the exact same Cute Little Lost Bunnies story reworded at least fifty times, but stopped when he caught sight of the television again. There was a special bulletin flashing at the bottom of the screen, and the video had changed to show images of a giant spider's web stretched between two buildings.  
  
"Police reports say that although no suspect was seen fleeing the crime scene, there appears to be another giant web blocking the front entrance of the Tyke-Time Toy Factory, the largest manufacturer of toys in the greater St. Canard area." Tom Lockjaw was saying. "Investigators believe that the criminal escaped through a side entrance into this alley, leaving the web to deter --"  
  
"This looks like a job for....Darkwing Duck!" the masked mallard announced, already in his trademark purple suit and fedora. "Come on, LP. Let's get --"  
  
"Gee, DW, weren't you going to get Morgana to come along with us to investigate the next creepy looking robbery?" Launchpad interrupted, scratching his head. Darkwing sighed, upset at having his catchphrase interrupted.  
  
"Yeah yeah, we'll pick her up on the way over. NOW, let's --"  
  
"I'm comin', too!" A voice called from the top of the stairs. Two seconds later, Gosalyn had barreled down into the living room.  
  
"Absolutely not, young lady! You're staying right here and finishing up your homework!" Darkwing ordered, frustrated.  
  
"But Daaaaad, I know all about super uber creepy monster stuff! I can help you guys! Besides, I finished my homework half an hour ago!" Gosalyn wheedled.  
  
"I don't have time for this!" Darkwing flailed. "Fine, you can come, but stay out of trouble, and don't get in the path of Morgana's spells this time. I don't want to have to bring you home as a bat again," he added with a shudder, sitting down in the blue armchair just as Launchpad got into the other one and Gosalyn jumped onto his lap. "Ahem. Now. Let's get dangerous!"  
  
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After waiting outside Macawber Manor for nearly five full minutes without getting an answer at the door or seeing so much as a shadow move behind the curtains, Launchpad ventured hesitantly, "Um, maybe she's not home, DW. Shouldn't we get outta here and head on over to the crime scene? This place is even creepier when no one's home." Casting a final look at the darkened house, Darkwing sighed and nodded.  
  
"I don't get it..." he mused as they climbed back into the Thunderquack. "She told me she didn't have any plans after work for the rest of this week! Where would she have gone?"  
  
"Maybe she was kidnapped by eeeevil mutant zombies from outer space!" Gosalyn chimed in, then paused. "Or maybe she just went to the store," she added as an afterthought, shrugging. Darkwing didn't reply; in fact, he didn't' say much for the rest of the ride. Apparently, neither Gosalyn nor Launchpad had been having the same suspicions he had been having about the nature of the robberies that had been taking place, which made him feel a little guilty. Why was he the only one who seemed to be wondering whether or not his own girlfriend might be responsible for a crime? Shouldn't he have been the one defending her? He knew she was still working on paying off her student loans, but she was WORKING this time, not stealing. The Shadow Chateau had been a risky venture (he still suspected that she had hidden away some of her old loot from him and used it to start the restaurant, since she never gave more than vague answers as to how got the money for the place), but it had paid off, and Morgana was slowly but surely making her way out of debt – the honest way.  
  
"Whoa," Launchpad said as they landed in front of the toy factory, just as Gosalyn let out a 'keeeen gear!' The spider's web looked more impressive in person than it did on television, and Darkwing could see why the police hadn't been able to get inside; from a distance, there appeared to be large spaces between the strands of silk, but in reality they were filled in with smaller, ordinary webs.  
  
"Stand aside, gentlemen!" he announced, hopping out of the plane. "Darkwing Duck, the caped crusader of combating creepy crimes, can handle this." He strode purposefully towards the entrance, whipped out a magnifying glass, and peered at the web. "Hmm...my deductive reasoning leads me to conclude that this is the work of more than one spider!"  
  
"Maybe those little guys pitched in," Gosalyn suggested, pointing up to the top of the web. Darkwing looked up to see several dozen ordinary spiders hanging from the high doorframe, swinging gently in the breeze.  
  
"...you may be onto something, Gos," he replied, then pointed out some larger strands in the web. "It looks as though the main framework was done by a much larger spider, but there are individual webs built in between them."  
  
"Cool beans! Giiiiiiant mutant spiders!" the redhead exclaimed, grabbing Darkwing's magnifying glass out of his hand and peering through the web into the factory. "Maybe there are still some in there!"  
  
"Say, DW..." Launchpad began slowly, a look of realization dawning on his face. "Doesn't Morgana have a giant pet spider?"  
  
"Archie? No way would he do something like this!" Gosalyn said vehemently before Darkwing had a chance to reply, and he was secretly somewhat proud that his daughter was sticking up for his girlfriend so readily. "He'd never do anything without Morgana knowing about it, and she's on our side! She's part of the Justice Ducks, remember?" she added pointedly.  
  
"I'll bet what Launchpad means is that we should question Archie to see if he knows any other giant spiders living around town," Darkwing said hurriedly, hoping to derail Launchpad's train of thought before the pilot started piecing any more evidence together. "We'll head over to Macawber Manor again once we finish up here," he added, pulling out his gas gun. "Step aside, citizens!" he announced loudly before firing. As the smoke cleared, the web trembled for a moment, then suddenly collapsed into a pile of silk on the ground.  
  
"What was that stuff?" Launchpad asked as they picked their way over the fallen web.  
  
"Glue solvent," Darkwing replied simply, looking around. Upon first glance, he didn't think anything was missing. The inside of the factory didn't look the least bit out of place...until he started examining the items of the shelves closely.  
  
"This has GOTTA be Quackerjack's doing!" Gosalyn exclaimed, clambering up on a ladder to see some of the higher shelves. "I mean, who else replaces normal toys with stuff like this?"  
  
"No....Quackerjack's toys are generally demonic and dangerous, not...spooky," Darkwing replied, picking up a toy werewolf ('Really Howls When Exposed To Moonlight!' the label read) from a shelf that was marked for teddy bears. "Besides, I checked; he hasn't broken out of prison again yet."  
  
"But who else would want to empty out all the toy stores in town, then replace the new toys being made with stuff like this?" Launchpad asked, glancing over his shoulder every now and then in case more spiders decided to appear.  
  
"Maybe he's getting someone from the outside to work with him..." he mused, then stopped short when he glanced over at the next set of toys on the shelf. In a space marked for "Weeping Wendy" dolls, all the original pink and purple boxes had been replaced with black and red ones. Inside the boxes were headless dolls exactly like the one he had seen in a box of old things at Morgana's house a few weeks ago. Scanning over to the next shelf, his heart sank as he recognized more items; poison ivy jump ropes in place of synthetic pink ones, witch's brooms in place of toy vacuum cleaners...and even a line of black bubbles with skull stoppers.  
  
"Hey, this stuff is awesome! And none of it LOOKS like it's going to attack us..." Gosalyn said, still on top of the ladder. "There's some reeeally neat looking board games!" she added, holding up a box entitled 'Death'. "Hey Dad, think you can take any of this stuff as "evidence"? Y'know, maybe me and Honker can test stuff out to make sure it's safe!"  
  
"Binkie Muddlefoot would have a conniption fit," Darkwing remarked dryly, tearing his eyes away from the bubbles to look up at Gosalyn, who grinned.  
  
"Hey, you never know about her and creepy things...she was a lot happier with Morgana's cooking than you thought she'd be," she reminded, then looked back at the 'Death' box and added, "Say, I bet Morgana would love this stuff! Wonder if this is the kind of game she played as a kid."  
  
"Put it back, Gos," he ordered, sighing a little.  
  
"But -- "  
  
"Gosalyn..." he began in a warning tone, and she pouted as she put the game back on the shelf. "Come on, let's go."  
  
"But DW, aren't you gonna search for more clues?" Launchpad asked, exchanging glances with Gosalyn as the crimefighter headed back towards the entrance.  
  
"I've, uh...gotta do a little research before I can go any farther with this case," Darkwing supplied, not pausing in his steps. "We'll let the police clean things up here." At that, Gosalyn stopped short halfway down the ladder, looking back and forth from her father to Launchpad in disbelief. Launchpad had about the same expression on his face; Darkwing Duck, letting the police be the last ones at a crime scene?  
  
"Something weird is definitely going on," Gos muttered to the pilot as they trailed out of the building behind Darkwing. Launchpad just shrugged.  
  
"Maybe he's just got a lot on his mind?" he supplied. Gosalyn shrugged back.  
  
"Maybe....he's probably just got some mondo cool trick up his sleeve," she said finally, nodding for emphasis, but stopped talking once they all got into the Thunderquack. The flight home passed mostly in silence until Launchpad started to turn the plane towards Macawber Manor.  
  
"Go straight, LP," Darkwing instructed. Launchpad frowned, but obeyed, heading towards the bridge instead.  
  
"Sorry, DW, I thought you wanted to see if Morgana was home yet," he reminded.  
  
"Yeah, Dad, didn't you want to question Archie?" Gosalyn chimed in, sticking her head up in the front seat.  
  
"Naw, she's probably off...visiting relatives, or something. I'll catch up with her tomorrow night," he said, waving his hand absently. He only hoped that she had a good alibi for being out of the house during the toy switch. Gosalyn still didn't seem the least bit suspicious of the sorceress, but Darkwing was sure that Launchpad had his doubts. Of course, he knew that LP wouldn't say anything right away, but it was only a matter of time before he started questioning whether his boss was more loyal to the law or to the love of his life. That was a question that Darkwing himself wasn't entirely sure he could answer just yet. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I had horrible writers block for a few days, and then suddenly, BOOM, wrote a chapter without stopping in one afternoon. It comes and it goes. There's not a lot of action in this part, but...that's just the way it worked out. Thanks so much for all the great reviews I've received so far; I really appreciate them!  
  
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That night, long after Launchpad and Gosalyn had both decided to hit the hay, Darkwing Duck paced around his living room, still wearing his costume. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his suspicions implicating Morgana with the recent robberies were becoming stronger and more founded. 'Maybe someone's trying to frame her...' he thought, then sighed and slumped down on the couch, head in his hands. It wasn't as though she would really be an easy woman to frame. After all, who else besides Morgana could get a bunch of spiders to cooperate in a toy heist?  
  
"That's it. She's teamed up with Quackerjack. Once she breaks him out of jail, they're probably going to run off to Transylvania together," he said aloud, utterly miserable. Just when he felt as though things were really going well between him and Morgana, something like this had to happen. He should have known better than to let himself fall in love in the first place.  
  
Lightning flashed in the distance, and his heart ached dully as he thought about how much Morgana loved a good thunderstorm. He knew that, no matter what might happen between them, there were far too many things that reminded him of her for her to ever stop being a part of his life completely. Especially since Gosalyn was constantly dragging him to those creepy horror movies, some of which had characters eerily reminiscent of Morgana's family. Their relationship had moved forward from nervous, tentative dates with both of them secretly terrified that they would frighten the other away to comfortable backyard barbeques and evenings spent at home, just enjoying one another's company. He had let her into his life, not only as the caped crimefigher Darkwing Duck, but as plain old ordinary Drake Mallard. And she had loved him anyway. They had made it through Morgana's temper tantrums and his own foolish pride. Could he really allow himself to let her run off with Quackerjack (since that was what he had suddenly convinced himself she was planning)?  
  
"Not without a fight!" he exclaimed suddenly to the empty room, jumping up off the couch and running towards the pair of blue armchairs against the wall.  
  
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Meanwhile, at Macawber Manor...  
  
"Archie, where on Earth have you been? I've been through every doorway in this house looking for you!" Morgana exclaimed, hands on her hips. The overgrown spider cringed a little and muttered something unintelligible to most ears, to which the witch replied, "What do you mean, visiting with relatives? You could have at least TOLD me before I became worried sick about where you'd disappeared to!"  
  
Archie grumbled again, but before Morgana could continue to reprimand him, Eek and Squeak came flapping in from the foyer. "What? Darkwing's at the door?" she questioned, then smiled. "Well, go let him in!" The bats flew off obediently, and Morgana quickly checked her appearance in the hall mirror, patting her hair gingerly. She moved to stand in the doorway, leaned somewhat seductively up against the frame, and waited.  
  
Darkwing came stomping in through the doorway with determination written across his face, but he slowed to a stop a few feet away from his girlfriend when he caught sight of her gazing at him alluringly. "Uh....um....h-hi, Morgana," he stammered, his focus shot to pieces.  
  
"Dark, darling!" she exclaimed, moving forward to drape her arms around his neck and plant a kiss on his beak. The kiss lasted several seconds, and when she finally pulled away, Darkwing was wearing a silly, adoring grin, as well as lipstick that wasn't his shade. Morgana smiled to herself, satisfied; she DID so enjoy having him wrapped around her little finger. "What brings you here, honeywumpus?" she purred, using one hand to play with the feathers on the back of his neck.  
  
"Well....uh....y'see, there were spiders, and....um....stuff..." he babbled, still lost in her eyes, then shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "And...Morgana, you know I can't think when you do that!" he exclaimed suddenly, wriggling out of her arms. She pouted slightly, but made no attempt to 'recapture' him, as it were. "I'm....uh, here on business," he added, feeling a little uncomfortable now that he had brought the subject up. As certain as he had been five minutes ago that Morgana had something to do with the robberies, he was now just as _un_certain.  
  
"Oh, all right," Morgana sighed, her tone somewhere between disappointed and annoyed. "What is it you want?"  
  
'You to be innocent,' he thought to himself, but said aloud, "Well...you see, there's been another one of those robberies--"  
  
"I thought you were going to ask me to come along!" she interrupted, looking a little hurt.  
  
"I did! I mean, I was! But I came here to get you, and you were gone, and...um...well, there were these spider webs at the...at the crime scene, and...I thought..." He suddenly realized that her eyes had narrowed to slits, and started backing away carefully. That was never a good sign.  
  
"You thought that my disappearance meant I was connected with the robbery, is that it?" she demanded, advancing on him slowly. "You automatically assumed that since I HAPPEN to have a less than perfect record, and that I HAPPENED to be out of the house at the time of the robbery, and that there HAPPENED to be spider webs at the crime scene, I was the culprit? Is that it, Darkwing Duck?" Her hands were raised above her menacingly, and Darkwing cowered against the wall, using his own hands to shield his head.  
  
"Now, now, Morgana, I never said --"  
  
"Oh, but you were going to, weren't you? You were going to point fingers at me!" As if to prove her point, she lowered her hands down a bit so that they were pointed in his direction.  
  
"Sweetheart...honeywumpus..." he pleaded nervously, eyes darting around for a place to hide and escape the coming blast. He saw her draw her hands move in a motion to cast, and braced himself as a red flash illuminated the room...and some red roses in a vase on the table nearby turned to ashes. She had missed...on purpose.  
  
Tentatively, he lowered his hands to look at Morgana. Her arms had dropped to her sides, and she was breathing heavily, but it wasn't because of rage any longer; he realized with a surge of guilt that her green eyes were filled with tears. "Get out of my house," she ordered through clenched teeth, her voice low as she struggled to keep it steady.  
  
"Morgana, please...if you would just let me explain..." he began, advancing towards her slowly. She raised her hands again in a swift motion, and a gust of wind knocked him back, towards the front door that had already opened to aid in his exit.  
  
"I said get OUT of my HOUSE!" she repeated, shouting this time. For a moment, he teetered on the threshold, gazing at her uncertainly. Then, with a sigh and a defeated shake of his head, he left. The door shut behind him with a thud.  
  
Morgana stood rooted to the spot at first as she stared with blurred vision at the closed door, her breath beginning to come in gasps as she fought against the threatening tears. Shakily, she moved to the couch and sank down onto it, then, unable to hold back any longer, she buried her face in her arms and wept.  
  
Outside, Darkwing listened at the door, his heart breaking as he listened to the broken sobs coming from within. He would much rather be singed by one of her spells, or turned into pudding, or even a YAK again, than know that he had made her cry like that. And to think that he had almost labeled her as a common criminal...well, not common. Morgana Macawber had always been anything but common in everything she did. That was just one of the reasons why he loved her.  
  
He lifted his hand, intending to knock on the door, but paused. She had just thrown him out. Chances were, she didn't want to see him at the moment. With a sigh, he withdrew his hand and rubbed it across his eyes, then turned and headed down the path to the Ratcatcher.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Giving credit where credit is due; thanks to Jen for suggesting frogs! And...I don't own Darkwing Duck. I really, really wish I did so I could bring the show back. But...I don't. Too bad. Enjoy the chapter!  
  
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There was no doubt about it; Drake Mallard was in a funk. A deep blue funk, to be precise, and no matter what they tried, his daughter and sidekick couldn't seem to bring him out of it. Neither of them knew exactly what had gone on two days earlier to cause his foul mood, but judging from the angry black storm clouds that had been hanging heavily over St. Canard, he had probably been in a pretty bad fight with the town sorceress.  
  
"I can't take much more of this, Launchpad," Gosalyn moaned, flopping down beside him on the couch and grabbing the remote.  
  
"Uh-oh...what happened this time?" the pilot asked, not bothering to protest as Gosalyn changed the channel; he only watched the news to look for possible crime situations, and from the recent state of things, there didn't seem to be any use in that. Darkwing hadn't been out on a patrol for two nights.  
  
"Oh, Dad's outside. He just tried to ground me for jumping over the fence from Honker's. I mean, I do that every day!" she exclaimed, then added, "True, most days I don't land on his head, but still!"  
  
Launchpad frowned. "DW's outside? In this weather?" he asked, puzzled.  
  
"Yeah...he's gardening." As if to emphasize the absurdity of the situation, a flash of lightning illuminated the darkened sky outside, followed almost immediately by a clap of thunder. "I think he's trying to prove to Morgana that her storm isn't affecting him or something..."  
  
"Gee, how do you know it's Morgana's storm?" Launchpad questioned. "I thought it was just the rainy season or something..."  
  
"Launchpad, St. Canard doesn't have a rainy season. We're usually in a heat wave this time of year. And if some super villain with a weather controlling was device running around again, Dad would know about it. Besides, me and Honker rode our bikes downtown yesterday and went right past Morgana's house....that's definitely where this is coming from," Gosalyn explained, still flipping through channels absently. She finally ended up right back at the news again. "Great, Dad's in a bad mood, and there's nothing good on TV."  
  
The redhead was just about to turn the set off when Launchpad stopped her. "Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "Isn't that Morgana's house now? Turn the volume up!" Sure enough, the image on the screen was that of a rather wind-blown, harried looking reporter standing across the street from Macawber Manor. The two ducks leaned in closer to the TV, listening intently.  
  
"Police believe they might have traced one of the spiders that took part in creating the abnormally large web used to deter crimefighters at the Tyke- Time Toy Factory break in and robbery earlier this week," the blonde duck on the screen shouted, barely audible over the rushing gale. "Two arachnids were seen escaping from Peter's Plethora of Playthings earlier this afternoon, apparently after being frightened by an oversized, lifelike toy frog that croaks whenever someone tries to enter the stock room of the store. The pair abandoned the scene after encasing three employees in webbing." At that point, the screen briefly switched to an image of three very confused looking ducks, their limbs bound by spider silk.  
  
"Gosalyn, I thought I told you NO TV!" Drake exclaimed as he entered through the front door, rainwater dripping from his beak.  
  
"Dad! Come here, you've gotta see this!" Gosalyn exclaimed, then added, "Morgana might be in some kind of trouble!" She knew that, argument or no argument, her father would rush to his girlfriend's rescue in spite of himself.  
  
Sure enough, her trick worked; Drake zoomed over to couch and started watching as the news reporter continued. "Both spiders have been identified as an unusually large, rare breed found only in the heart of Transylvania. While police lost track of one of the spiders, they have traced the second one to this house: Macawber Manor, home to the owner of the newly popular foreign restaurant, The Shadow Chateau." Drake couldn't help but allow himself a small smile of pride at the 'popular' comment, but the expression quickly changed to a frown at the camera zoomed in to several officers hauling themselves hand over hand up a rope hooked to Morgana's porch railing. "As you can see, police are attempting to reach the front door of the house, which is no easy task in this wind. Looks like they've finally gotten close enough to knock on the door."  
  
The wind seemed to calm for a moment after the officer knocked; the door opened slightly, and a very upset looking Morgana peered through. "What do you want?" she snapped.  
  
"Ms. Macawber, I'm afraid we have a warrant to search your house for a rogue criminal spider," the beagle officer nearest to the door replied, almost harshly. "If you'll only--" He was interrupted when the door slammed onto his face, leaving his nose squished flat. "...cooperate."  
  
"Dad! We've gotta help her!" Gosalyn exclaimed, watching as the police force started using a battering ram on the front door; not that it was doing much good, considering the fact that the wind had picked up again and they were barely able to keep on course.  
  
"You're right, Gos," her father replied, having already slipped into his Darkwing costume before either of them realized it. "Come...to the bat cave!"  
  
The other two ducks just blinked at him blankly at that comment.  
  
"Get it? Morgana's house...she has bats, and...um...all right, I've just always wanted to say that, okay?" he whined, stomping towards the blue chairs and flopping into one. Shrugging, Gosalyn and Launchpad followed suit.  
  
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"Step aside, gentlemen!" Darkwing Duck announced; rather, he screamed it above the now howling winds. The weather had caused quite a bit of trouble for Launchpad when he tried to land the Thunderquack. Rain battered against everyone standing outside, soaking them to the skin. The chief of police glared at the purple-clad duck.  
  
"Nothing doing, Darkwing; this is serious business! We've got it covered," he yelled back.  
  
"Look, pal, we're the only ones she's going to even CONSIDER letting inside right now...so BACK OFF!" Without waiting for a response, Darkwing pulled out his gas gun and shot a grappling hook at the door knocker, allowing the three of them to pull themselves to the porch before anyone could get close enough to stop them. Launchpad looked scared to even be near the house, but he held his ground while Darkwing knocked on the door.  
  
"I said go AWAY!" a voice yelled from inside; they could all tell by her tone that the sorceress was beginning to feel desperate.  
  
"Morgana, it's us!" Gosalyn shouted. The curtains fluttered, and a moment later, the three of them were ushered inside, seemingly of the house's own free will. Morgana was pacing the living room floor, wringing a black handkerchief in her hands.  
  
"Drake, I don't know what to do..." she cried out helplessly; he knew then that she had to be truly upset, because she never called him Drake when he was in costume. Not to mention the fact that if she wasn't upset, she would still be holding a grudge against him. All the frustration and anger he had been feeling towards her – and towards himself – immediately melted, replaced by a need to make everything better.  
  
"Calm down, Morg," he said soothingly, taking her hands and leading her over to the couch. The dark haired witch let him hold her, and didn't object when he took the handkerchief out of her hands and gently dabbed at the tears of frustration that had formed in her eyes. Launchpad and Gosalyn both stayed standing near the door, trying to be invisible. Gosalyn looked somewhat disgusted by 'lovey-dovey' scene that was beginning to develop; no matter how much she liked Morgana, she still didn't enjoy seeing all the mushy stuff. Launchpad just looked uncomfortable.  
  
"But Drake...I mean, Dark..." she said, realizing for the first time that he was dressed as Darkwing Duck. "Oh, I wish you didn't have so many names!" she burst out.  
  
"It's part of my job, honeywumpus..." he began hesitantly, but she interrupted him.  
  
"Dark, they're after Archie! He came home half an hour ago and went straight to the attic, grumbling something about being in trouble, but he won't tell me where he's been or why these people are after him or ANYTHING!" she exclaimed in a rush. Darkwing sighed.  
  
"They caught him escaping from an attempted toy store robbery, Morg...and he wasn't alone. There were reports of another spider that looked to be of the same species with him," he explained. Morgana frowned.  
  
"I thought Archie was the only one of his kind in this city...truth be told, there aren't many of his kind left at ALL," she mused, then hesitated. "Dark, you never gave me the chance to explain where I was the other night during the robbery--"  
  
"You don't have to explain, Morgana," he interrupted. "I should never have doubted you in the first place..."  
  
"Let me finish!" she insisted, and he hushed. "I had been looking for Archie...he was gone half the night. I couldn't find him anywhere! He finally did come home, and all he would tell me was that he had been visiting with relatives...he wouldn't even tell me WHICH relatives...oh, Dark, you don't really think Archie's turned criminal, do you? I know he used to help me on crime heists, but...oh, I hope I haven't been a bad influence..." she fretted, but he stopped her with a hand on her lips.  
  
"Shh. You're a good person, Morgana," he replied sincerely, moving his hand to cup her cheek. The two of them became lost in one another's eyes for a moment, and were leaning in for a kiss when a loud voice interrupted them.  
  
"TIME OUT! Impressionable young mind, here!" Gosalyn exclaimed, her expression almost matching the one her father always wore when he was fed up with something. The two lovebirds pulled away from each other, looking slightly embarrassed. Launchpad had his eyes squeezed shut. Without waiting for any sort of permission, Gosalyn bounded over to the couch, landing herself smack in between Darkwing and Morgana. "Right, so somebody's obviously trying to frame Archie, 'cause he wouldn't do anything bad! So what's the game plan? Find the crooks and clobber 'em?" she asked, swinging a fist in the air.  
  
Darkwing and Morgana exchanged glances over the ten year old's head, unable to keep from smiling a little at one another; adopted or not, Gosalyn was most definitely Drake's daughter. "Well, the simplest solution would be for us to get Archie to tell us what's going on," Morgana began. "Unfortunately...I can't get him to talk to me. He almost acts as though he's afraid it's going to hurt me or something."  
  
"I'll talk to him!" Gosalyn exclaimed, jumping up from the couch. "Archie and I are good buddies! Where'd you say he was?"  
  
"He's up in the attic..." Morgana answered slowly. "But..."  
  
"Thanks Morgana!" the redhead replied, already running up the stairs.  
  
"Watch out for Anthony! He hasn't been fed yet today!" Morgana called after her.  
  
"Stay away from carnivorous plant – got it!" came the reply. Darkwing shook his head; he worried about his girlfriend's choice in 'pets' sometimes.  
  
"Hey, DW, the police are starting to gather on the porch again," Launchpad announced, peering through the curtains at the scene outside.  
  
"Let's turn on the TV so we can see what's going on," Darkwing said, heading towards the old black and white set sitting against the wall; Morgana was modern enough to have a television, but not so modern that she cared to have any sort of updated version. He turned the knob on the set, and was greeted with a picture of himself. "Hey, look, I'm on TV!" he exclaimed a little proudly, his ego once again speaking for him.  
  
"St. Canard crimefighter Duckwing Dark is still inside Macawber Manor," the newscaster was saying. Darkwing frowned and stomped his feet.  
  
"It's DARKWING DUCK! DARKWING DUCK!" he shouted at the set, but calmed down a bit when Morgana laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Shh, honeywumpus, I can't hear what they're saying," she hushed him, her eyes on the screen, which had switched to an image of her own house again. She frowned slightly. "I really need to get those shutters redone, don't I?" she murmured to herself.  
  
"There have been reports that the self-proclaimed vigilante and Ms. Macawber have been dating, although an on-the-spot witness has cast some doubt on the restaurant proprietor's faithfulness to the masked mallard...." The camera angle panned back to the reporter, no longer quite so windblown now that Morgana's foul mood had lifted somewhat and the storm lessened along with it. Standing beside her was none other than Herb Muddlefoot, decked out in his Quackerware salesman suit, his suitcase of wares in hand. "Mr. Muddlefoot, I understand that you're acquainted with Morgana Macawber?"  
  
"Well, sure! Little lady's been over to the house a couple times for barb- ee-ques with our neighbor, my good buddy Drake Mallard," Herb drawled, looking rather excited about being interviewed randomly on the street. Then again, Herb got excited over Pelican's Island reruns. "Me an' Binkums think pretty highly of her, too...she sure is a good cook. She and Drakesters are a great couple! Plumb head over heels for each other!"  
  
Inside the house, Morgana and Darkwing exchanged glances, unable to keep from smiling a little shyly at each other at that comment; neither of them had fully apologized for the earlier argument, but at the moment, they both seemed to have forgotten. However, their expressions changed at the reporter's next comment, "Well, there you have it, folks. It seems as though Morgana Macawber is seeing a duck on the side, which makes one wonder just how trustworthy of a person she is. Rumor has it that she was once a criminal, herself, before meeting the caped crimefighter Dackwing Dork--"  
  
"Will they at LEAST be CONSISTENT with calling me the wrong name!?" Darkwing exclaimed, then jumped back quickly when, without warning, the television set exploded. Morgana stood in front of the charred remains, looking livid. Outside, thunder shook the house and lightning ripped through the sky almost simultaneously.  
  
"How DARE they! First they accuse my familiar of attempted robbery, then they have to go and make character judgments about me on the six-o-clock news for the entire world to hear!" she seethed, sparks still jumping dangerously from her fingertips. "How am I supposed to run a business when they're degrading me left and right?"  
  
"Hey, hey, it's okay," he soothed, gingerly taking her arm. "We'll get to the bottom of this somehow, Morg. I promise," he reassured. "Now, just think for a minute...you said before that Archie was out visiting relatives the night of the last toy store robbery...but didn't you say that you didn't think there were any more of his kind in St. Canard?" he questioned, frowning.  
  
"Well, there aren't...I just assumed he'd gone through the door to Transylvania. If I'm not mistaken, his mother is still living there..."  
  
Just then, Gosalyn came bounding down the stairs. "I found him!" she announced, swinging over the railing instead of taking the last three steps.  
  
"What'd he say?" Launchpad piped, looking eager to get some answers so they could all just get out of the house; he had pressed himself against the doorway in terror at Morgana's outburst, half-afraid the sorceress would turn on anyone in her path. Not only that, but Eek and Squeak had appeared out of nowhere and begun flapping around the pilot's head.  
  
"Well, not much, really," Gosalyn replied, somewhat disappointed, but she added quickly, "He DID admit that he'd been at the toy store, but that it wasn't his idea, he was doing someone a favor."  
  
"Who would Archie owe a favor to?" Morgana mused, puzzled. Darkwing began pacing back and forth through the living room in his typical 'sleuth' stance.  
  
"Hmm...first, giant spider webs are found in front of a robbed toy factory. Then, Archie tells Morgana that he's been visiting relatives during the time of the crime. The only relative she knows of is his mother in Transylvania. Finally, Archie is seen leaving a SECOND toy factory with another spider of his species! It all makes SENSE!" he proclaimed, waving his arms in the air.  
  
"...it does?" Launchpad asked, scratching his head, but Morgana and Gosalyn seemed to understand.  
  
"You think Archie's mother is behind all this?" Morgana asked.  
  
"But that doesn't make any sense, Dad...why would a spider want to rob a toy factory?" Gosalyn added, sounding skeptical. Darkwing paused.  
  
"Erm...well...they must be working for someone else!" he covered, faltering a bit. Then, suddenly, an idea struck him. "Of COURSE! Since Quackerjack is in prison, he obviously couldn't commit the robberies himself! So he enlisted the help of Archie's mother!"  
  
The statement was met with blank stares all around. "But...honeywumpus...why would Quackerjack know Archie's mother in the first place?" Morgana questioned hesitantly.  
  
"Because he...and the...um...the thingy...and...uh...nevermind that!" Darkwing spluttered.  
  
"DW, you said before that the robberies didn't look like Quackerjack's handiwork," Launchpad pointed out.  
  
"Nevermind what I said!" the caped crimefighter exclaimed, flailing his arms. "Come on, LP! We're going to pay a little visit to Quackerjack at the St. Canard Center for Crazy and Corrupted Criminals!" he announced.  
  
"What about us?" Morgana asked indignantly, gesturing to Gosalyn and herself. "You're certainly not going to leave us here with the police skulking around my front door trying to exterminate Archie!"  
  
"Why are they making such a big deal out of this case anyway?" Gosalyn asked. "I mean, it was just a toy store, and it didn't even really get robbed!"  
  
"Well, for one thing, there's nothing else interesting going on in St. Canard," Darkwing began, only to be interrupted by his girlfriend.  
  
"And for another thing, everyone jumps at the chance to throw stones at the town witch." There was an awkward silence following the outburst, which was surprisingly out of character for the sorceress. Morgana rarely ever made comments regarding fact that she was a little different than most people in town; in fact, for the most part, she acted almost as though she wasn't the least bit out of place among them.  
  
"Well, they don't know what they're talking about!" Gosalyn announced stoutly. "You're one of the coolest people I know, Morgana!"  
  
Darkwing couldn't help but smile a little; leave it to Gosalyn to know exactly what to say when it really mattered. Morgana smiled, as well, and gave the young duck a quick hug. "Thanks, Gos," she replied quietly.  
  
"Actually, I'd rather have you two come along with us, considering what's going on outside. But who'd guard the house?" Darkwing asked. Morgana smirked a little.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about the house. It can guard itself, if anyone actually gets in," she replied vaguely.  
  
"Oh. Well, that's...that's handy," he replied, blinking.  
  
"Then what are we waiting for! Let's get dangerous!" Gosalyn exclaimed.  
  
"Hey hey hey, that's my line!" Darkwing protested. His daughter rolled her eyes.  
  
"Dad, you forfeited the chance at saying that line tonight when you came up with 'to the bat cave' earlier," she remarked. Launchpad snickered a little; Morgana looked somewhat baffled.  
  
"Bat cave...?" she questioned.  
  
"...nevermind! Let's just go already!" the masked duck exclaimed.  
  
"How are we gonna get out, DW? The house is kinda surrounded," Launchpad reminded, chancing a glance out at the ever-growing crowd outside. Darkwing turned to his girlfriend.  
  
"Morg, do any of those doorways of yours lead to another part of the city?" he asked, receiving a hesitant nod in response. "Great! Let's go!"  
  
"Um, Dark, I'm not exactly sure WHAT part of the city it leads to now...there's been a great deal of construction done around town since I installed the portal..." Morgana began to warn. Sensing that the group was getting ready to leave, Eek and Squeak flew into the witch's hair to tag along for the ride.  
  
"Oh, who cares? We're wasting time, let's go!" Darkwing insisted. Shrugging, the four of them followed Morgana to the doorway.  
  
"Right, everyone hold hands so we go together," Morgana instructed, reaching for Darkwing and Gosalyn. Launchpad grabbed onto Gosalyn's other hand "Archie?" she called. "Archie, we're leaving..." Receiving not so much as a grumble in response, she sighed and shook her head. "Guess he's going to keep hiding. Oh, well...Dark, you go first." Without awaiting further instruction, the caped crimefighter stepped through the seemingly blank doorway. With a sudden lurch, he was sucked through the portal, dragging his three companions along with him.  
  
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A/N: Woo, longest chapter yet! ...actually, this is the longest chapter I've probably ever written of a fic. Not that I write many chapter fics to begin with. Um...yes, so, now I'm rambling. Tune in next time for the continuing stooory of our heroes! Will Morgana's portal actually lead to anywhere useful? Will our favorite caped crusader catch the crook? And just what is up with Archie and his mother, anyway?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: As always, I own nothing! Except maybe the St. Canard Center for Crazy and Corrupted Criminals. Thanks to Stef (Green Leo Fiend) for getting me unstuck after I'd written myself into a corner, and thanks to...uh...lots of other people, I'm sure. Oh, right, thanks for all the reviews I've gotten on this! Much more than I expected...hope you enjoy this chapter! The plot's supposed to pick up a little more in the next one. Hang in there with me!  
  
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The four companions hurtled through the grayish-purple portal for one minute, then two...then Darkwing began to wonder. All the other portals he had ever been through hadn't taken nearly this long.  
  
"Um, Morg?" he said loudly over the whooshing noise surrounding them. "Where exactly did this portal lead when you first installed it?"  
  
"The vacant lot at the end of 17th Street!" she called in reply.  
  
"17th Street? Isn't that where they built the new city--"  
  
He was cut off as, without any warning, they all suddenly popped out of the portal and into mid-air, where they hung for about two seconds before falling into a heap of garbage with a loud crash.  
  
"....dump," he finished, picking a banana peel off his beak. Morgana smiled apologetically.  
  
"Well, it got us out of the house, at any rate..." she reminded, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"Heeeey...Dad! Isn't this my favorite lucky baseball cap that you said got eaten by Mrs. Feldman's chihuahua?" Gosalyn asked, emerging from a pile of junk with a torn, faded, dirty blue cap in one hand. Darkwing blanched.  
  
"Uh...of course not! There must have been hundreds of caps like that made, maybe even thousands!" he replied, fumbling slightly on his words. Gosalyn looked inside the cap, then narrowed her eyes at her father.  
  
"And they all have the initials G.W. written inside them in red marker? With an M added on the end in black?" she asked, one hand on her hip while the other still clutched the hat.  
  
"...um...heheh..." He laughed nervously, looking around for some means of distraction. "Look! There's the St. Canard Center for Crazy and Corrupted Criminals just down the block! Come on, we've got a criminal mastermind to interview!" he announced importantly, scrambling out of the junk. Then, as an afterthought, he went back and helped Morgana up. "Sorry, sweetie..."  
  
"Since when is Quackerjack a criminal mastermind?" the tall witch asked as Launchpad and Gosalyn dug their way out of the junk and onto the sidewalk. "I mean...really, he barely even qualifies as criminal..."  
  
"Morgana! He attempts to market demented, dangerous toys to impressionable young children!" he exclaimed, flailing.  
  
"His toys aren't really all that different from ones I had growing up..." Morgana countered. Her boyfriend opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Launchpad; the pilot was smart (and experienced) enough to recognize the beginnings of an argument between the two lovebirds.  
  
"Uh, hadn't we better get goin' if we're gonna talk to Quackerjack? The place probably doesn't have visiting hours for very long," he said. The distraction was enough to stall impending doom for the moment, and so the four headed down the street towards a tall building with barred windows. As they drew nearer, crazed laughter could be heard drifting from the topmost floors.  
  
"Gosalyn, sweetie, maybe you'd better stay outside..." Darkwing began, eying the building a little warily.  
  
"Good idea, I'll stay with her!" Launchpad added in quickly. He looked downright scared.  
  
"Oh, come on, I can handle it!" Gosalyn argued. "I mean, I bet I've seen YOU act crazier than some of the people locked up in there..."  
  
"What?! When?" her father demanded. She gave him a pointed look.  
  
"Um...well, the time you blew up the living room going after a housefly comes to mind..." she started, then began to tick off on her fingers. "Then the time--"  
  
"Okay, okay! You can come in!" he interrupted, casting a nervous glance Morgana's way; he didn't exactly want his daughter airing out all his dirty laundry in front of his girlfriend. "Just don't wander off!"  
  
"Something about wandering, got it," Gosalyn called, already heading inside the doors. Darkwing heaved an exasperated sigh, and the three adults followed the ten year old's lead.  
  
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Meanwhile, in a room on the third floor of the building...  
  
"You've gotta get me outta here!" a voice whined in a semi-darkened room, illuminated only by a flashlight held over some papers spread out on a table that was pushed against one wall. Two figures bent over the table, their faces looking almost ghostly in the little bulb's glow.  
  
"All right, all right, keep your shirt on," the other figure muttered, then pointed down at the table. "If I can get the breakers for this unit shut off, that should take care of the whole floor..."  
  
"Why can't you just shut off the alarms for this hall? That's all we need!" the other figured exclaimed, peering at the map.  
  
"Hey, you don't expect me to just leave these fluorescent beauties trapped here, do you? I'm going to liberate all the ones on this floor!"  
  
"What are you TALKING about!? We don't have time to go around freeing light bulbs! I've gotta escape!"  
  
Suddenly, a third voice came out of an intercom, causing the two figures to jump. "Mr. Quackerjack, you have some visitors," an extremely nasal female voice crackled over the speaker. The two figures looked at one another, then immediately started scrambling.  
  
"Quick! Turn the lights back on!" Quackerjack ordered, frantically clearing the table of papers, which were shoved into a nearby basket...which happened to be full of yarn....  
  
"I can't, I already unscrewed the bulbs!"  
  
"Well, SCREW THEM BACK!"  
  
"There's no time! Here, we'll trigger the emergency lights!"  
  
"Well, hurry up! Get in position!"  
  
The emergency light above the doorway flicked on and the flurry of activity ceased seconds before Darkwing Duck burst through the door. "All right, Quackerjack, I don't want any of your...tricks..." He trailed off, blinking in disbelief at the sight that met his eyes. At one end of the white, padded cell, the jester was sitting on the edge of the bed, Mr. Banana Brain faithfully at his side while he played with a paddleball. Sitting in a chair near the bed was what appeared to be an elderly looking woman, complete with blue hair, a tacky, floral dress that looked like it escaped out of the seventies, and knitting needles, half-listening while Quackerjack spoke.  
  
"So, GRANDMA, how's life on the farm been—oh! Why, Darkwing Duck! What a surprise to see you!" the clown exclaimed, bouncing off the bed to stand on his head in front of the caped crimefighter and company, who all looked absolutely baffled. "This is my Grandma Ethel." The 'grandmother' gave him a look that plainly said 'ETHEL??' but just forced something resembling a smile and nodded.  
  
"Oh...um..." Darkwing stammered, still befuddled. "...right." He paused a moment, then decided to just proceed with the speech he'd had planned out. "It's no use, Quackerjack! We know all about your little scheme!" Quackerjack and Megavolt exchanged nervous glances; how on Earth could Darkwing Duck have found out about the escape plan!? However, before they could get too worried, the masked mallard continued. "Sooo, you thought you could get away with luring a poor innocent spider--" Here, Launchpad made a face as if to say 'innocent spider!?', but Darkwing paid him no heed. "--and his mother into your evil ploy to take over the minds of the children of St. Canard with your treacherous toys!"  
  
"Spiders? What spiders?" Quackerjack asked, genuinely confused. 'Grandma Ethel' just continued to pretend to knit, although it looked more like tying knots in the yarn with the needles.  
  
"Don't try to deny it! Archie already confessed to--" Here, he stopped when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see Morgana looking a little hesitant. "What is it?"  
  
"Er...Dark, darling, Archie never actually said anything about Quackerjack..." she began.  
  
"Shh! Morgana, that doesn't matter!" he explained, drawing her aside slightly, which was a pretty useless move, since everyone in the room could still plainly hear what was being said. "If I make him THINK Archie's already confessed, he might admit to the crime!"  
  
"Look, sorry to burst your bubble, Dipwing, but I don't know any arachnids named Archie," Quackerjack interrupted, then went back to playing paddleball.  
  
"Aha!" Launchpad exclaimed, triumphant that he'd noticed a clue. "If you don't know him, how come you knew he was an arachnid and not just any kind of spider, huh? Let's see you explain that!"  
  
"Um, Launchpad..." Gosalyn muttered to the pilot. "All spiders are arachnids..."  
  
"...oh. Heheh," Launchpad answered, laughing sheepishly.  
  
"Hey, wait a minute," Quackerjack spoke up, frowning as realization dawned on him. "Do you mean to say that someone ELSE is trying to take over the evil toy overlord business in St. Canard?"  
  
"...you mean it really wasn't you?" Darkwing asked, looking even more befuddled than before.  
  
"Nope...someone's trying to horn in on my territory!" the jester exclaimed angrily, jumping off the bed.  
  
"Oh...well...sorry we interrupted your visit, I guess...um...we'll be going now..." In absolute disbelief that his deductive powers had proved wrong, Darkwing wandered out of the room, the rest of his entourage following behind him.  
  
As soon as the door clicked shut, Megavolt jerked the blue wig off his head, scratching his scalp in annoyance. "I can't believe I'm doing this for you..." he whined. "If it weren't for those beauties trapped in those cheap, awful cases, I'd have backed out..."  
  
"We do NOT have TIME to free your stupid light bulbs, Sparky!" Quackerjack insisted, frustrating.  
  
"Hey, don't call me Sparky!"  
  
"Just do your whole electricity manipulation thing and let's get out of here!"  
  
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Darkwing Duck didn't notice as, behind them, the lights on the third floor of the St. Canard Center for Crazy and Corrupted Criminals suddenly extinguished, nor did he or any of his friends pay any mind to the insane cackle of familiar laughter that followed the sudden lack of illumination.  
  
"So now what do we do, DW?" Launchpad asked as the crimefighter paced a few feet ahead of where the others were walking, his hands clasped behind his back.  
  
"According to my deductions, Al's House of Amusement is going to be the next toy store robbed!" he announced. The other three exchanged glances.  
  
"Uh, Dad, your deductions haven't exactly been proving to be much help in this case..." Gosalyn reminded, readjusting her newly found baseball cap. Her father just stopped walking and glared in her direction. The rest of them stopped, as well, before they ran into him.  
  
"AS I was saying...Launchpad, you and I are going to stake out the toy store. Morgana, I want you to take Gosalyn home," he ordered, trying to sound authoritive. However, his attitude withered as his girlfriend fixed him with an annoyed glare. "Um...please? Honeywumpus?"  
  
"Darkwing, Archie's my familiar! If he IS involved in this, I think I have the right to be there!" she replied. He shook his head and drew her aside slightly.  
  
"If you come along, then just what, pray tell, do you suggest we do with Gosalyn? I don't want to take her along on what could be a highly dangerous stakeout!" he exclaimed. Immediately, he knew he had said the wrong thing somehow by the look on Morgana's face.  
  
"Oh, but it's okay to take ME along into danger!?" she demanded, her voice rising. He looked completely flabbergasted.  
  
"But you just...you said...and...you just insisted that you come along!" he exclaimed, flailing.  
  
"I'm a woman; I'm not required to be rational," she snapped back in response. The four of them stood there in silence for a moment as a few cars passed by on the road, Morgana standing with her arms crossed over her chest in a huff, Darkwing still looking completely at a loss for words, and Launchpad and Gosalyn looking as though they both wished they had stayed home to play Whiffleboy.  
  
"Um, Dad, why don't I just go over to Honker's?" Gosalyn suggested, breaking the silence. "It's only about two blocks away from Al's." As much as she hated to miss an adventure, she would much rather be hanging out with Honker than watching her dad and Morgana argue over stupid stuff.  
  
"Fine, at least that's one problem solved. Let's get going," Darkwing grumbled in response, stomping off ahead of them. Launchpad and Gosalyn exchanged glances with one another, then looked at Morgana, who was still standing on the sidewalk with her arms crossed. Shrugging, they walked past the witch to follow Darkwing. Morgana's expression had softened a little to one of uncertainty; deep down, she knew that she had no cause for blowing up like she just had, but she was every bit as stubborn as her boyfriend, and apologizing wasn't going to come easily. She had no idea why she let her temper get the best of her around him so much, but, whatever the reason, it was too late to dwell on this time around. Sighing quietly, she hurried down the sidewalk to catch up to the others. 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: To answer some questions ahead of time...the reason I have Morgana teleporting herself in this chapter even though the four of them used a portal in the last chapter is because I figure she probably wouldn't feel comfortable transporting a group of people. Oh, and the song "How to Handle a Woman" from Camelot inspired a little paragraph in this! Anyway...hope you all enjoy! Thanks so much for reviewing!  
  
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After seeing to it that Gosalyn arrived at the Muddlefoots', the remaining three ducks backtracked two blocks to Al's House of Amusement, a small, independent toy manufacturer, where they found Al preparing to close up shop for the evening. Darkwing managed to convinced the proprietor to allow them to stake out inside the store until the 'pilfering perpetrators pounced!'.  
  
They waited in an uncomfortable silence, Launchpad making sure to steer as clear of the couple as he could. Neither of the temperamental two had spoken a word to one another since the tiff on the sidewalk, and the pilot had the feeling that Morgana had come along more out of a wish to spite Darkwing than a desire to see what Archie was up to. The minutes ticked by slowly; after about half an hour, Launchpad sat down at a nearby display table and started up a game of checkers against himself in the nearly-dark room. Soon afterwards, Darkwing joined him, leaving Morgana leaning against the wall with Eek and Squeak (who had emerged from the witch's hair) flapping around her head.  
  
"A-HA! King me!" Darkwing announced after another twenty minutes of playing in near silence. By this time, Morgana had sat down on a stool behind the counter and begun doodling cobwebs in the corners of some paper lying there. Launchpad frowned, squinting at the board.  
  
"Uh, DW, I'm pretty sure that was your own piece you just jumped..." he said, pointing to the game piece in question. Darkwing did a double take, then leaned down to squint at the board as well. Seeing that his sidekick was right, he frowned.  
  
"Checkers is a stupid game, anyway," he grumbled, pushing his chair back from the table. He heard an exclamation of something between annoyance and disbelief come from Morgana's direction. "What!?" he asked, indignant.  
  
"You think any game's stupid when you're not winning, Darkwing," she answered, not looking up from her doodling. He scowled.  
  
"Look who's talking, miss 'Whiffleboy is a childish game because I can't understand it'," he retorted mockingly.  
  
"Nooo, I said Whiffleboy is childish because you act like a two year old when you lose. I never said anything about not understanding it," she snapped back, rising from the stool to jab his shoulder with her finger.  
  
"Same thing!" he replied, his tone almost taunting.  
  
"It is not!"  
  
"Is too!"  
  
"Is not!"  
  
"Is too!"  
  
"Is—what am I DOING!?" Morgana finally exclaimed, shaking her head. "I am not going to stand here and argue with you over something so petty!"  
  
"You always argue over something petty," he grumbled under his breath. Immediately, he realized he had stepped over the line; whether he was tipped off by the changed expression on Morgana's face or the sudden clap of thunder that shook the building was hard to say. He winced. "Um...I mean..."  
  
"I think I know quite well what you mean, Darkwing," she snapped. "And I'm not going to stand here and listen to you any longer. Futhermore, I don't think there's even going to BE a robbery tonight. So much for your 'deductive reasoning'." There was a short silence, then she went on to announce, "I'm going home."  
  
"Morg...honeywumpus..." he began, but before he could get any farther, his girlfriend disappeared into thin air. "I hate it when she does that!" he exclaimed, slamming his fedora down on the table and scattering the checkers in the process. Launchpad said nothing. "What does she want me to do, anyway? I mean, she can't expect me just to give in during every argument we have!"  
  
"Well...maybe it wouldn't hurt to give in once in a while..." Launchpad began hesitantly.  
  
"I don't know how to handle her!" the masked mallard continued, not listening to his sidekick. "I mean, I've tried flattering, pleading, threatening..." he trailed off. "Actually, she's the one who does the threatening," he corrected, then sighed. "I guess nobody knows how to handle a woman."  
  
"Gee, DW...I haven't had all that much experience, but I remember Dad once told me that the best way to handle a woman isn't really that complicated." Launchpad replied, shrugging his shoulders. Darkwing frowned.  
  
"Your dad never had to deal with Morgana Macawber," he grumbled, then paused. "Erm...what did he tell you, anyway?"  
  
"Well, Dad said the best way to handle a woman is just to love her. Y'know, just for who she is, even if she's wrong sometimes," Launchpad advised. Darkwing blinked, somewhat dumbfounded; he wasn't used to hearing philosophical ideas come out of the big duck's mouth. Not ones that made sense, anyway. "I guess apologizin' a little wouldn't hurt, either," the pilot added.  
  
"I guess..." Darkwing said, a little doubtfully. He sighed, looking around the toy store. "Come on, LP...let's go get the Thunderquack and patrol a little. Morgana's right...I don't think there's going to be any robbery here tonight, after all."  
  
"Okie dokie," Launchpad replied, glad to have something else to do. The two crimefighters headed out the front doors of the shop, making sure it was locked tight behind them.  
  
"Maybe I really should go apologize to Morg while we're getting the plane..." Darkwing mused aloud as they walked. Launchpad didn't reply; even if he had, another sudden crack of thunder from above would have drowned out his reply. "Sheesh, you'd think she'd have gotten that out of her system by now..."  
  
"Hey, DW, look!" Launchpad exclaimed as they were about to round the corner; out of the corner of his eye, the pilot had caught side of a shadowy figure standing in front of Al's House of Amusement.  
  
"Aha! We've got 'em!" Darkwing immediately sprang into action, creeping back to the store among the shadows and alleyways, his gas gun drawn. By the time they got close enough to peer around the corner of the store, the figure had already gotten inside.  
  
"I thought we locked the door," Launchpad whispered, gesturing to the front door, which was standing wide open with no apparent signs of a forced entry. Darkwing frowned.  
  
"We did...hey, look! There's Archie!" he exclaimed in a hiss, pointing to the open doorway. Sure enough, the large, brown spider was busy spinning a web that spanned the entire entranceway, top to bottom. And he wasn't alone.  
  
"Who's that?" Launchpad asked, indicating the second spider. As big as Archie, the spider's brown coat was peppered with grey, her lips were painted an almost gaudy shade of red...and a set of miniature pink hair rollers were on top of her head. As they watched, Archie must have bungled a piece of webbing, because the second spider grumbled at him in a slightly higher pitched tone than Archie used and started wagging her front foot at him, scolding.  
  
"Gotta be his mom," Darkwing muttered. "Come on, let's see if we can't get a closer look inside."  
  
The duo edged around the corner a bit farther until they could easily see inside the front windows without being noticed by the two spiders, who were lost in their own work. Darkwing blanched slightly at the image visible through the window. The only light was a faint green glow coming from an orb suspended in mid-air, and silhouetted in the glow was the shape of a too-familiar female figure.  
  
"Morgana?" he whispered, brows knitting in confusion. The tight, floor- length dress, the upswept hairdo...  
  
"DW, aren't you going to stop her?" Launchpad asked quietly, nudging the hero. Wordlessly, Darkwing pressed his hands to the glass, watching as the green orb glowed brighter; it was some form of portal, and it was getting bigger. The toys on the shelves began to fly into the portal, seemingly of their own accord. Once the store was empty, the spherical portal shrunk to the size of a marble, then swelled again until it was once more roughly the size of a beach ball. The same brand of morbid toys they had seen at the other robbed toy places began filling up the shelves until the whole place was restocked. Her back still slightly turned towards the front of the store, the sorceress shrunk the portal a second time and drew it towards her outstretched hand, where it floated for a moment above her palm before winking out of sight completely.  
  
"DW, she's gonna get away!" Launchpad exclaimed...a little too loudly. The spiders in the doorway heard him, and immediately began to attract the attention of the witch inside. She looked to them, then snapped her head towards the doorway for an instant before disappearing in a quick flash of light. The spiders scuttled away down the sidewalk out of sight. Launchpad cringed a little. "Heh...whoops?"  
  
"I don't' believe this," Darkwing announced, still looking dumbfounded as he finally turned away from the shop window. "I mean...Morgana's never outright lied to me before...sure, she's omitted the truth a little bit at times..."  
  
"Maybe she just couldn't give up bein' a criminal," Launchpad suggested, clapping a supportive hand on the hero's shoulder.  
  
"Dark!" a voice called behind them, and they turned around. Morgana had appeared a few feet away and was floating towards them, her hands clasped anxiously. "Dark, I just went home, and I can't find Archie anywhere...the police finally gave up and left, and there were no signs of anyone else being in the house, but Archie's just gone! He didn't even leave a note!" She paused, realizing that the crimefighting duo was staring at her, slightly dumbfounded. "...what?"  
  
"But...but..." Darkwing stuttered, looking from his girlfriend to the robbed toy store.  
  
"We just saw you in there!" Launchpad finished for him. Morgana frowned.  
  
"What? That's impossible! I've been at home searching the house for Archie!" she insisted. Neither of them looked convinced, and her frown deepened. "Now honestly, how could I be in two places at once?"  
  
"You're the magic expert. You tell us," Darkwing grumbled, sounding a little hurt.  
  
"Dark! Why won't you believe me?" she asked, equally hurt. He sighed.  
  
"Because we SAW you, Morgana!" he replied, the paused. "Unless there's another shape shifting scoundrel in town trying to frame you..."  
  
"Why don't we check out the security cameras, DW?" Launchpad asked.  
  
"No, I have a better idea! We'll check out the security cameras!" Darkwing exclaimed triumphantly. Morgana and Launchpad exchanged glances, then shook their heads. "Launchpad! Go and get the Thunderquack and take it back to the tower. We'll meet you at home after we get the tape."  
  
"What am I supposed to do about Archie?" Morgana asked as the pilot headed off down the sidewalk.  
  
"Morg...I hate to break this to you, but we DID get a good look at the spiders who spun that, and one of them was definately Archie," Darkwing began gently. "Maybe he used one of the doorways to get out of the house..."  
  
"He couldn't have gone through a portal...I locked them all before we left!" Morgana insisted.  
  
"Did you lock the one we used after we'd gone through it?"  
  
"...oops."  
  
"Come on, let's get that tape," Darkwing said, then looked at the web in the doorway. "Erm...Morg, you mind getting rid of this? I'm all out of glue solvent."  
  
Shrugging, the witch waved her hands, and the web promptly burst into flames. "Darn, that wasn't exactly what I was going for..." she muttered, watching as the burning silk fell away from the frame.  
  
"Hey, it works," he said, shrugging. The two of them stepped inside, and Darkwing set to work getting the security tapes.  
  
"Look at this!" Morgana called, picking a box up off the shelves. "'Death'! I haven't played this in years..."  
  
"Got it!" Darkwing said, holding up the tape triumphantly. "Come on, Morg, let's go." He paused halfway to the door, getting no response from the witch. "Morg?" He looked back to see her standing in an aisle way, holding a box with a confused expression on her face. "What's wrong?"  
  
"This doll..." she said, frowning. "It looks exactly like the one I had when I was a little girl..."  
  
"Now do you understand why I suspected you?" he asked. "Whoever's planting these toys must be getting them from a company in Transylvania."  
  
"No, not this one...I've never seen one like this in stores. Mine was handmade for me," she replied, a little distantly. He frowned and gently pulled the box out of her hands, setting it back on the shelf.  
  
"Come on, we'll get to the bottom of all this once we watch the tape," he reassured.  
  
-------------  
  
After changing out of his Darkwing costume and picking Gosalyn up at the Muddlefoots, Drake put the tape in the VCR and rewound it a little ways.  
  
"I'm gonna go make some popcorn!" Gosalyn called, bounding into the kitchen. Drake shrugged and pressed play on the tape.  
  
"Shouldn't we wait for Launchpad to get back?" Morgana asked, sitting down on the couch.  
  
"Naw...we'll probably have to watch this more than once to pick anything up from it," he replied, taking the seat beside her. After a moment of hesitation, he put his arm around her; he knew that if she was still mad, she'd probably singe him for that. Instead, she smiled a little and snuggled closer to him, then turned her attention to the television.  
  
The tape was black and white, and a little fuzzy, but they could still clearly make out the glow of the portal and the shapely silhouette of the robber. "But...that's not me, I was at home..." Morgana murmured, frowning at the screen. They continued to watch in silence for a few moments, the only sound that of popcorn popping in the kitchen.  
  
"Here's when you...I mean, when she heard us," Drake commented, pointing to the screen. The figure half-turned, and from the camera's angle, more of her face was visible than what Launchpad and Darkwing had seen from the window. Morgana's own face paled a little; seconds later, the figure on the tape disappeared, and Drake pressed the stop button on the remote.  
  
"You've got to admit, honeywumpus...it DOES look a lot like you..." he began. "Of course, looking at the tape again, whoever that was had lighter hair...and, thinking back, I'm not really sure her dress was as red as yours..."  
  
"It was purple," Morgana replied. Drake blinked.  
  
"How can you tell? The tape was black and white...although now that you mention it, I guess it might have been purple..." he began slowly. The sorceress didn't seem to be listening, lost in her own thoughts.  
  
"That would explain why Archie's mother is involved in this," Morgana said quietly, her hands resting limply in her lap.  
  
"What? How?" he questioned, frowning.  
  
"Because she was once a familiar to another member of my family. A long time ago," she replied cryptically, rising to float across the room to the bay window. The sky outside was still a grey-blue hue, and thunder rumbled low in the distance.  
  
"Well? Who!? Spit it out!" Drake insisted, his patience was growing thin. He wanted this case solved, and he wanted it solved right away, before it caused any more problems between him and his girlfriend. Silent for a few long moments, Morgana crossed her arms over her chest and stared not at the clouds outside, but at her own reflection in the glass. The grey-blue sky seemed to somehow blend with the red of her dress, making it appear as a dark purple color in the glass. In the reflection, she looked a great deal like the woman Drake had seen robbing the toy store...and, suddenly, he realized that he had seen the image before, yet he couldn't quite place where. He moved to stand behind her, reaching up to place a hand on her shoulder and repeating, not quite so demandingly, "Who was Archie's mother a familiar to, Morg?"  
  
His girlfriend moved her gaze from her own reflection to his, meeting the image of his eyes in the glass for a moment before looking back out at the sky once more.  
  
"My mother." 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long...after I wrote the previous chapter, I realized "...wait. I don't have a set motive for my villain." So...that had to be figured out, lol. Major thanks to Travis (Web Writer Witch) for helping me brainstorm ideas for this over chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in TCBY!

--------------

"Thanks again for the ride home, Dark," Morgana said half an hour later, standing in the front door of her house. He was back in costume, ready to go out patrolling after he dropped her off.

"You're sure you'll be all right? You've had a rough night..." he said, frowning a little as he took both her hands in his. She gave a small smile and nodded.

"I wish I could help you on the case a little more, but...I need some time to think about things first," she explained. "I'll call you tomorrow night."

"I'm sure she had a good reason, Morg..." he said in an attempt at reassurance, although he sounded doubtful. She shook her head.

"Good reason or not, I know she has to be stopped. I don't want you getting lenient on this case just because my mother's the villain," she replied.

"I know. Look, are you sure you're going to be all right here by yourself? Because I don't mind hanging around and guarding the place..." he offered, sounding a little worried. Morgana smiled.

"Guard me from what? My own mother? Don't worry about me, Dark. I'll be fine," she reassured, kissing his forehead.

"Okay...well, Launchpad and I are going gonna go see if we can get any leads on her whereabouts. I'll let you know what we find," he said. He squeezed her hands lightly before releasing them, then kissed her cheek. "Bye."

"Goodnight," she called, then went inside and shut the door behind her. Eek and Squeak flapped into the living room, carrying a teetering cup of tea on a saucer between them. Morgana reached up to take the tea from their precarious balance and sighed.

"Thank you. Any sign of Archie?" she asked, hopeful. The bats squeaked in reply, and Morgana sighed again, sitting down in an armchair. "I just can't understand this...why wouldn't he TELL me if he was working with my mother?" More squeaks issued forth, and Morgana looked shocked. "You mean you've known all this time, and you haven't said anything? I can't believe this! Well, I suppose he does have a certain loyalty to HIS mother, but...I just don't see how he got roped into this..."

"Good children know that it's important to help a mother when she needs it," an alto voice called from the stairs. Morgana's heart leapt to her throat, and she froze in place with the teacup half raised to her lips. She was torn between wanting to run out the door and straight to Darkwing for support, and wanting to run like a lost little girl into the arms of the woman she knew was standing behind her, the one who had been half-forced out of her life years ago. Instead, she placed the cup on the coffee table, then rose from the chair and turned towards the stairs, trying to remain composed in spite of the fact that she felt as though her insides had turned to jelly. She studied the woman standing halfway down her stairs for a moment, trying to think of something appropriate to say, before finally settling with,

"Hello, Mother."

-----------

Meanwhile, Darkwing and Launchpad were soaring over the skyscrapers of St. Canard in the Thunderquack, searching for any signs of suspicious activity. Other than the earlier toy store robbery and a couple of jaywalkers, there had been almost no criminal happenings in the city all night.

"I don't get it, D.W. Why would Morgana's mom be in the toy business?" Launchpad asked.

"For that matter, I want to know what she's doing in St. Canard in the first place," the caped crimefighter grumbled. He wasn't exactly happy about seeing his girlfriend's life in danger of being turned upside down.

"I always figured her mom was dead or somethin'...no one ever says anything about her," the pilot commented, taking the plane a little lower to get a better view of the streets.

"No...she left Maloculo when Morg was still just a kid. Well, she sorta left, he sorta threw her out...that sort of thing." Darkwing paused, not really sure how much of Morgana's personal life he should be revealing. Then again, now it was part of a case, and Launchpad WAS his sidekick, so he continued. "You know how Maloculo has kind of a hard time warming up to Normals?"

"Boy, do I ever! I STILL get weird cravings for ketchup sometimes..." Launchpad answered.

"Launchpad, you got weird cravings for ketchip before he turned you into a vampire bat," Darkwing replied. "AS I was saying, Morgana's mother is half-Normal. Needless to say, her father wasn't exactly happy when he found that out."

"Whoa! So that means Morgana's part Normal, too?"

"Yeah...kinda makes you wonder why it took ol' Mal so long to get used to the fact that she's friends with some, doesn't it?" Darkwing mused. "Anyway, that's pretty much all I know about her mom."

"Kinda hard to pick a motive when you don't have a lot of info, huh?" Launchpad asked, bringing the plane up a little higher to avoid running into the top of a skyscraper.

"Pfft! Nothing's too hard for Darkwing Duck!" the masked mallard announced dramatically. Launchpad said nothing; he was used to the other duck's ego trips. "Now, let's see...the most logical reason for Morgana's mother being in St. Canard is...well, Morgana. Our villainess must be trying to get in touch with her daughter!"

"Why didn't she just send a postcard?" Launchpad asked, crinkling up his forehead in confusion.

"Launchpad, you know these villainous types always have a flair for the dramatic!" Darkwing replied. "The next question is...why would she turn to robbing toy stores and replacing the stolen goods with her own brand of baubles?" he continued, trailing off. "Unless...a-HA! She must be trying to corrupt the youth of St. Canard through her macabre merchandise!"

"She's gonna have to get a new name for the company, then...I don't think Macawber Merchandise would go over too well after what happened with Morgana's mushroom company..." Launchpad said.

"Not Macawber! Macabre! It's...oh, nevermind." Darkwing sighed, shaking his head. "I still need to figure out why she would be in St. Canard pulling crime heists without getting in touch with Morgana first..."

"Early birthday present?" Launchpad suggested. Darkwing rolled his eyes and started to make a sarcastic comment in reply, then stopped.

"Say, Launchpad...you might be onto something...not about the birthday present, I mean, but maybe she's been trying to do this as some sort of surprise for Morgana...I mean, Morgana used to be a crook herself, and I don't think she inherited any criminal tendencies from Maloculo," he mused, looking down at the streets of his city through the window of the Thunderquack. "If that's the case, then there's only one toy store she has left to hit...she'll be going back to try to fix the bungled burglary at Peter's Plethora of Playthings!"

"Do you think she'll try to do it tonight?" Launchpad asked as they neared the Audobon Bay Bridge.

"No...she probably knows we're on to her. My guess is she'll lay low for a while, then strike when she thinks we're not expecting it!" Darkwing exclaimed, punching his palm with the opposite fist for emphasis.

"Does that mean we're done for the night? I'm beat..." Launchpad said, parking the Thunderquack in the tower.

"Yeah, we may as well call it a night...looks like nothing else important is going to happen. Besides, Gosalyn's got a soccer game tomorrow morning...although I'm dreading doing the laundry after she plays in all that mud," he replied, making a face as they headed towards the pair of blue armchairs.

--------

There was a short silence after Morgana spoke; the woman standing on the stairs seemed to be studying her, gauging her reaction. She looked strikingly similar to Morgana; she was obviously older, and her hair was more grey than black, but she still had the same hourglass figure and upswept hairstyle. If it weren't for the age difference and the slight color variation of their eyes, the two women could have been twins.

"I had really hoped to have my little operation completed before being found out by your Normal," the older sorceress said, breaking the silence and spitting out the word 'normal' with distaste. Morgana frowned.

"How did you know about that?" she asked, somewhat helpless. Her mother smiled, making her way over to where Morgana stood.

"Mother knows these things, pet," she crooned, placing one hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Well! Let me look at you," she added in a brighter tone, using the other hand to tilt Morgana's face upward a little. "You certainly have turned out to be a lovely lady...I've only been able to watch you from afar all these years, you know. It's so good to really be here with you..."

"You've...you've been watching me?" Morgana questioned, swallowing the lump in her throat that was trying to form. "But I thought..."

"That I had forgotten about you? No, darling, I was always watching you. I will admit that I lost sight of you for a little while when you made that sudden move to this awful place, but it didn't take too long to find out where you had gone." She paused, noticing that her daughter's eyes were exceptionally bright with held back tears. "Now then, pet, don't cry. Mother's here now," she murmured, enveloping Morgana in a hug.

The younger witch couldn't help but return the hug; in spite of the fact that her mind was telling her that this woman was a criminal and needed to be apprehended, it was clouded over by the overwhelming emotions that came with seeing her mother again after so many years, a mother that she still believed had been wrongly taken away from her. After a moment, she regained enough of her senses to pull away and ask, "Why are you here, Mother? And why have you been robbing toy stores?"

"Oh, I thought it'd be a nice business to break into..."

"Then why didn't you go about it honestly instead of turning to crime?" Morgana questioned, frowning.

"Because crime DOES pay, my dear. In time, I hope you learn to forget about that half-wit do-gooder of yours and realize what a good thing you gave up when you decided to turn over a new leaf," the older woman answered.

"Don't talk about Darkwing that way!" Morgana defended. Her mother just smiled, making her feel very much like a little girl being talked down to. "He's going to catch you, Mother...your best bet would be to return the stolen toys and get out of town now, while there's still time," she advised shakily. As hard as it was for her to tell her mother to go away again, she knew Darkwing trusted her to do the right thing, and she was determined to be worthy of that trust.

"Darkwing, dear? Or Drake?" her mother replied casually, taking a seat on the couch.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about!" Morgana insisted, a little nervously.

"Oh come now, darling. Just because those idiot Normals are fooled by his silly disguise doesn't mean I am. They may think that you're simply dating two different ducks, but I know as well as you do that your 'hero' is nothing but plain old suburbanite Drake Mallard," she answered calmly. "And quite frankly, dear, it's high time you got rid of him and moved on to better things."

"Mother! How can you say that?" Morgana exclaimed. "Dark loves me...and I love him!"

"Relationships between monsters and normals never work out, Morgana. I refuse to watch you go through the heartbreak of realizing that, not when I have it in my power to stop it." the older witch replied.

"Why can't they work out? For that matter, how can you condemn normals when you're half normal yourself, Mother? Just because you're relationship with Father didn't work--"

"Exactly, Morgana! It didn't work because I'm part normal. It didn't matter that I was raised as a monster, that my mother was a pureblooded as they come...my marriage was still doomed right from the start. Things didn't work out between my parents because they realized too late that a monster and a normal can never be happy together. Things didn't work out between your father and I as soon as we discovered my father's heritage. Do you honestly think things are going to work out between you and this normal of yours?" she asked, somewhat scornfully.

"Yes!" Morgana insisted. "He loves me for what I am--"

"He loves you because you're beautiful, Morgana. But on the inside, you're still more monster than normal, and eventually that's going to drive him away. I've been watching you, daughter. I know how much the two of you fight. Haven't you ever stopped to consider that maybe all those fights are a sign you two just aren't meant to be?"

"No!" Morgana exclaimed hurriedly, then sighed a little. "Well...yes, actually, I guess I have..."

"You see? Deep down, you already know that this can't work. And what of your future children? You remember how everyone in the family treated me the moment they discovered I wasn't really a monster. That's why I left. And I'm sure you remember how everyone treated you, once word got out...how you never quite fit in with the other students..."

"I fit in well enough!" Morgana defended.

"Oh? Then what about that birthday party that every popular little girl in your class was invited to, except you?" her mother reminded. "You remember...when they discovered you had found out about it, they used the excuse that they just weren't able to invite that many people? Those girls were your friends, daughter, until they found out what you really were."

"That...that's not..." Morgana faltered, unable to complete the sentence. She wanted to say that it wasn't true, but she knew in her heart that it was. She had always known.

"And what about that warlock you were supposed to go to the prom with? He was new in town, and he was just as taken with your beauty as all the other young monster men were...but they stayed away, Morgana. Didn't you ever wonder why they stayed away? Because they knew. And once he found out, he stayed away, too. That's why he never showed up on prom night. Do you really want your children growing up more normal than monster, only to be shunned by both worlds?"

"How do you know all this?" Morgana whispered, sinking down into the empty spot on the couch next to her mother. "You weren't there!"

"I told you. Mother kept up with how you were doing, darling," she replied, taking Morgana's hand and patting it gently. "I know you spent most of your life studying hard because you had plenty of extra time to study, time that most ghouls your age spent socializing. I know you first moved to St. Canard to open up your own business because you saw it as an in-between place, a city full of strange happenings, but a city of normals where you hoped you could leave your reputation behind."

"I studied because I wanted to make something of myself!" Morgana argued, pulling her hand away.

"You became a brilliant businesswoman because you wanted to forget what your heart really desired. You wanted to forget all about love. You almost had, too, before he walked into your life." There was a short silence, then her mother continued, in a gentler tone, "You don't love him because of who he is, Morgana. You just love him because he's the only man who hasn't yet shunned you for what you are."

"I've had other boyfriends!"

"Yes, but for how long? Did any of them last more than a month?"

There was a long silence before Morgana spoke again. "So, what you're saying is that I'll never be happy with a monster or a normal?"

"Not with the way things are now...but there is hope. If we can teach normals to think a little more like monsters...then maybe, as a whole, they wouldn't be so quick to condemn. And if they're more understanding...perhaps the monsters will become more understanding..."

"What am I supposed to do, then?" Morgana asked, sounding a little helpless. Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Join me, my child. You were once a first rate criminal, and you're still a wonderful businesswoman. With my ideas and your marketing strategies, we can make this toy business work. Soon, the youth of St. Canard will be playing with the same toys monster children are raised with...young minds are the most easily molded. We have to work on the children before we can begin to convince the parents."

"And you really think it will help bring monsters and normals together?" Morgana asked, somewhat doubtful. Her mother smiled.

"I know it will. So, what do you say?" she asked. Morgana shook her head slowly.

"I...Mother, I can't! Darkwing trusts me..." she began, but it was obvious her resolve was waning.

"Morgana, my darling daughter...you know he's never really trusted you. Hasn't he always doubted you? Hasn't he always questioned your motives? You thought it would get better with time, once you proved yourself as a 'good girl' to him...but even with this case, weren't you the first person he pointed fingers at?" she reminded. Morgana cast her eyes downward, unable to deny the truth in what her mother was saying. The older witch smiled, holding her right arm up and twisting her hand towards her a little so that her palm faced back out to the right again. "Well, daughter? Do we have a partnership? Or will you forsake your own mother in favor of a Normal who will never really accept you?"

Morgana lifted her gaze again, silent for the moment as she studied her mother's face. Then, with a look somewhere between acceptance and defeat, she raised her right hand up in the same pose, placing her palm against the other witch's.

"Veneficus pactum," she murmured.

---------

A/N: "Veneficus pactum" is Latin, and basically means "Witch's pact". Veneficus means "poisonous, magical; witch, wizard, caster of spells" and pactum means "pact".


End file.
